


December 24th - Mistletoe

by shenala



Series: Stuckymas [24]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts, M/M, Stucky Christmas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:40:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21932368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shenala/pseuds/shenala
Summary: The first thing Bucky sees when he wakes up on Christmas Eve isn't his husband sleeping next to him, it's not even one of the cats or the dog. No, the first thing Bucky sees when he opens his eyes is a sprig of mistletoe, right there on the pillow, next to his nose.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Series: Stuckymas [24]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1558945
Comments: 7
Kudos: 41





	December 24th - Mistletoe

The first thing Bucky sees when he wakes up on Christmas Eve isn't his husband sleeping next to him, it's not even one of the cats or the dog. No, the first thing Bucky sees when he opens his eyes is a sprig of mistletoe, right there on the pillow, next to his nose. 

With suspicious eyes and sleepy movements, he poked it tentatively with a finger before flicking it over to Steve's pillow so that he could go back to sleep. A disgruntled huff leaving his lips at two things; one, Steve wasn't there for him to snuggle up to, and two, there was just the faintest hint of the smell of something  _ other _ left on his pillow from the offending greenery. 

The second time Bucky wakes up on the morning of Christmas Eve it's to the feeling of fingers running through his hair and the smell of coffee wafting towards his nose. Turning over with a sleepy grumble, he blinked his eyes open to gaze blearily up at his husband perched on the edge of the bed. 

"Mornin' Buck," Steve said with a warm smile, pressing a kiss to the corner of Bucky's mouth when the brunet sat up and slumped into his shoulder, one hand blindly reaching for the cup of coffee Steve held in his grasp. 

The hot liquid washed away the last vestiges of sleep as Bucky scrubbed his face against Steve's shoulder before a thought struck him. Grasping behind him for the mistletoe, he waved it under Steve's chin, "what is this?"

His face a picture of angelic innocence, Steve's only tell (other than how well Bucky knew him) was the slightest uptick to the left corner of his mouth, "looks like mistletoe sweetheart."

Bucky shook his head ruefully and bopped Steve on the nose with the berried stem, "I know that, why was it on my pillow?"

"Because it's Christmas Eve."

"You say that like it means something" Bucky laughed, tossing the mistletoe onto the nightstand so that his hands were free for him to dig them into Steve's ribs mercilessly. 

Despite his best attempts, Bucky was unable to get any sense out of Steve on the subject of the morning mistletoe, so he gave it up as one of his husband's eccentricities and put it to the back of his mind.

Or at least, he would've done. But this is Steve Rogers {"Barnes-Rogers now, Buck!"} and so really, Bucky should've known that this wasn't going to be the end of whatever this was. 

He managed to get sorted in the bathroom and get dressed without further foliage intrusions, but he'd taken only a couple of steps out of their bedroom when Steve was wrapping an arm around his waist and dipping him back so that he could plant a dramatic smooch onto Bucky's surprised lips.

Upright once more, Bucky turned to Steve with a question on his tongue but the blonde simply grinned smugly and headed downstairs without a word. 

Bucky was a bit more tentative as he followed but the smell of breakfast tugged him towards the kitchen. 

His progress was again impeded when Steve stopped him a second time, trailing kisses across his cheeks before ending with just the softest brush of their mouths, before again walking away silently.

Over the course of breakfast alone this was repeated twice more, once when he opened the fridge, only to have Steve plaster himself to Bucky's back and kiss the nape of his neck, and then again when he sat down to eat, the blonde swooping in from nowhere to plant a noisy smack on his lips. 

Each time, Steve said nothing, simply smiled, ran a hand over Bucky's head and walked away. And each time, Bucky's eyes grew narrower as he tried to work out what exactly the other man was up to. 

Sure, he could've just  _ asked _ but he suspected that Steve wanted this to be a mystery, that he wanted to see if Bucky could work out the puzzle by himself or if the brunet would cave to his innate desire to know everything all of the time. 

And to give himself some credit, Bucky lasted until lunch. He smiled and calculated through numerous spontaneous smooches without saying a word. But when Steve tugged the laundry he was folding out of his hands and pulled him in tight to his chest before tipping up his chin and initiating a spine tingling kiss, leaving him breathless and oh-so-in-love-with-this-man, he could take it no longer. 

"Dammit Steve, I need to know!" the brunet finally cracked, with a whimper that showed just how much that last kiss had affected him.

Steve's answering grin was wicked and filled with satisfaction, "need to know what?" 

Deciding that two could play at that game, Bucky stalked towards Steve with a deliberate swish to his hips, wearing a mischievous smile of his own. "Come on doll," he drawled, smirk widening when Steve's eyes widened as the blonde swallowed hard, "you've been so sweet to me, givin' me all this love, I just want to know why."

Closing his eyes momentarily as he tried to regain control of the situation, Bucky was a lot closer than he'd anticipated when Steve opened them again. "I, er, um..."

Bucky laughed fondly, "I love that I can still get you flustered, Stevie."

Steve sighed a soft chuckle of his own, resting his head against Bucky's, and gave the simple answer of, "mistletoe."

"What about it?" Bucky asked.

"That's why I've been followin' you around and kissing you. Mistletoe."

Bucky pulled back slightly to look Steve in the eyes as he said, "what mistletoe? There's no mistletoe in here...." trailing off as he spun around to prove his point, faltering when he saw that there was in fact a sprig of mistletoe hanging right above where he'd been standing when Steve had found him. "Where'd that come from?"

"I hid it all over the house, starting with your pillow this morning" Steve explained, kissing Bucky's cheek.

"But you didn't kiss me when it was on the pillow this morning." Bucky frowned, "and why? You kiss me all the time already."

Steve rolled his eyes and tucked Bucky into his chest so that his chin could rest atop the brunet's head, "I did kiss you when it was on your pillow, but you were still asleep because you're lazy like that" pausing to giggle when Bucky tickled his ribs in retaliation, "and I know that we already kiss plenty, I just thought it'd be nice if I could surprise you a bit today. Show you how much I love you even when you're not expecting it."

"You, Rogers, are a sap" Bucky said simply from where he was nestled against Steve's sternum. 

"Yes" Steve agreed easily, "but Barnes, I'm your sap. Just like you're mine, jerk."

"That's Barnes-Rogers to you, punk."

"And it's Barnes-Rogers to you too."

They settled into each other's embrace for a moment before Bucky asked, "so how much more mistletoe is there?"

Steve laughed, just the warmth of his breath tickling Bucky's ear as he answered, "you'll just have to wait and see."

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Christmas Eve! 
> 
> shenala.tumblr.com


End file.
